Pittsburgh no longer the pits
Perhaps you don’t know much about the Pittsburgh women’s basketball team. For comparison’s sake, think about the Washington State men’s program, because the Panthers have orchestrated a similar turnaround.
In 2003, head coach Agnus Berenato inherited a team that had losing records seven of the previous eight seasons. The Panthers had won one Big East Conference title, back in 1984, often finished in the bottom half of the standings and had never made an NCAA tournament.
Pitt went 6-20 in Berenato’s first season.
“We didn’t just lose games, we lost some by 50, 60 points,” she said. “By halfway through the year, we lost more games than (assistant coach) Shea Ralph lost during her entire career (at UConn).”
But Berenato and her staff sold recruits on a dream, the promise of better days ahead that included winning, rankings and NCAA tournaments. Her second team won 13 games, but the talent level was on the rise with prized recruits like 6-foot-3 center Marcedes Walker, forward Shavonte Zellous and guard Mallorie Winn, who eventually followed Berenato from her previous job at Georgia Tech.
“I was pretty frustrated,” said Walker, now a senior and a two-time, first-team All-Big East performer. “But having these two (gestures toward Zellous and Winn), I used to talk to them a lot my freshman year to get me through. I couldn’t play in our last game in the Big East tournament because I injured my shoulder. Ever since, we’ve been playing in the postseason and it means a lot to be sitting here and talking about the Sweet 16.”
Pitt won 22 games in 2006 and 24 last year, earning an NCAA berth for the first time. The Panthers are 24-10 this season with a school-record four wins over ranked opponents, including a 67-59 victory over third-seeded Baylor in Albuquerque on Monday. As Berenato points out, Pitt expected to win.
“When we left Pittsburgh last Wednesday, we packed for this trip,” said Berenato, whose sixth-seeded Panthers face No. 2 Stanford tonight. The Panthers rely on Walker (13.9 points, 9.6 rebounds), Zellous (18.1 points, 5.4 rebounds) and Winn (8.1 ppg, 3.5 assists). They were ranked as high as 14 in the Associated Press poll in late January, but fell out after dropping five of six games – four to ranked teams.
“We did have some ups and downs,” Winn said. “The great thing about the NCAA tournament is that none of that really matters. Every game is your last. Who you lost to and how much you lost by and who you beat and how much you won by doesn’t matter. And we are on top of our game right now.”
As the team gathered for practice Friday at the Arena, plaques were presented to school administrators for their roles in the remarkable turnaround. After the practice, Berenato gathered the team in a circle and invited fans, relatives, locals and NCAA personnel to join in. Berenato called on several seniors to speak, but had some words of her own.
“It’s not about us just being here,” she said. “We’re here to win.”